Volunteers Arrested for Feeding Homeless People at San Diego County Park

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El Cajon police arrested about a dozen people for feeding the homeless at a city park Sunday afternoon.

The event was organized by a group called Break the Ban, which formed after the El Cajon City Council unanimously passed an emergency ordinance in October prohibiting the distribution of food on any city-owned property.

City officials said the ordinance was a way to protect the public from hepatitis A, but critics have called it a punitive measure to dehumanize and criminalize the homeless.

Mark Lane, one of the event’s organizers, said 12 to 15 participants were passing out food and toiletries to homeless people at Wells Park on East Madison Avenue when police arrived.